Region 21 Fall 2013 Meeting Held August 10 at Omaha

Posted on August 28, 2013 by wrmesser

The Region 21 Fall Meeting hosted by the Greater Omaha Iris Society began Friday evening with a social get-together. Then Saturday, August 10th, we met at Mammel Hall for a great meeting.

Our first speaker was Judy Kiesling, the AIS immediate past-president, discussing AIS Awards and Ballots. She covered a number of timely aspects of the Awards which were announced just a week later.

Robert Hollingworth covered Siberian Irises and what to look for and what to look out for. (When the Awards came out, it was apparent his Siberian irises have the desired attributes – he won both the Morgan-Wood Medal for ‘Swans In Flight’ and the Walther Cup for ‘Judy, Judy, Judy’.) He was also our banquet speaker describing A World of Irids with examples from South Africa, Israel, and Japan.

Thank you to our host group for a great meeting!

[Note: The Iris Auction and Business Meeting notes will be added later.]

AIS 2013 Iris Award Winners Announced

Posted on August 19, 2013 by wrmesser

That's All Folks Each year the judges of the American Iris Society vote for the top irises based on the irises performance in gardens. The 2013 winners have just been announced!

Beginning with the Dykes Medal Winner – ‘That’s All Folks’ by William Maryott, a list of the winners and all the votes can be seen on this Iris Encyclopedia page. In addition to the Iris Medal Winners for all 15 classes, the list also has the Walther Cup (where all classes are eligible) and has the Honorable Mention and Award of Merit irises in each class.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Region 21 Notes: The Walther Cup went to the Siberian iris ‘Judy, Judy, Judy’ and the Morgan-Wood Medal for best Siberian iris went to ‘Swans In Flight’ both by Bob Hollingworth who we just heard speak on Siberian Irises at our Fall Meeting in Omaha! Also, if you did not receive the AIS Newsletter News & Notes announcing these winners, please let me know (wrmesser@gmail.com).

James Ennenga, Long-Time Region 21 Irisarian, Passes Away

Posted on August 13, 2013 by wrmesser

James Ennenga, a hydbridizer who was active in Region 21 before retiring to Knoxville, TN, died August 2, 2013 at the age of 90. He had been RVP for Region 21 as well as a member of the Greater Omaha Iris Society. His registrations at the Iris Encyclopedia included Border Bearded, Standard Dwarf Bearded, Tall Bearded, Siberian, and Species Iris.

An obituary can be found here. Our condolences to his family.

Update September 7, 2013: The latest Greater Omaha Iris Society newsletter has a remembrance of him which includes more of his iris activities. It is on page 2 of the 2013 33 Number 6 newsletter.

Lincoln Iris Society Annual Iris Rhizome Sale and Auction—August 3rd, 2013

Posted on July 31, 2013 by wrmesser

If you are in the Lincoln area this weekend, stop by the LIS annual iris rhizome sale and auction between 10AM and 4PM. The sale will be located at St. Andrews Lutheran Church at 1015 Lancaster Lane in Lincoln, Nebraska. This is a new location for the sale, second year at this site. Directions to the sale are from 70th and Vine St, then 4 blocks east on Vine, take 1st left past the school, onto E. Avon. Church is on the left.

This year, there will be a very large sale of a huge selection of cultivars. Included will be a large number of historic iris rhizomes, especially Sass irises. Lots of other newer irises will be available, including Dykes Medal winners and a number of Allan Ensminger hybridized irises. Expect to find irises from most of the bearded iris classes including Standard Dwarfs, Intermediate, Miniature Tall, Border, and Tall Bearded irises. Every year there are some interesting surprises on the sale tables and that will undoubtedly happen again this year. In addition to bearded irises, there may well be Siberian irises for sale. And, there will be a limited number of Daylilies for sale, usually cultivars that are not found at local commercial outlets.

An auction of newer cultivars, primarily Tall Beardeds and mostly 2012 and 2013 introductions, will take place at 11 AM. Most of the auction irises this year come from Superstition Gardens (Rick Tasco and Roger Duncan) in California and from Mid-America Garden (Paul Black and Thomas Johnson) in Salem, Oregon, though there are a few late model introductions from other hybridizers as well.

Finally, there will be demonstrations on dividing and planting bearded irises. Information about growing irises, the Lincoln Iris Society, Region 21, the American Iris Society, the Historic Iris Preservation Society and other iris Sections will also be available.

For more information about the sale, contact Gary White at (402) 421-6394 or (402) 432-1550.

Lincoln Iris Society 2013 Iris Show Results

Posted on July 26, 2013 by wrmesser

Lincoln Iris Society Show Results – May 25, 2013

The 2013 show was smaller than in previous years; but, every bit as interesting. This was the year for historic irises. Historics won Best of Show (Miss Aravilla), Best Bicolor (Gracchus), and Best Youth Specimen (King Midas). The season was late; but, the selection ranged from SDB’s to Siberians. There were two firsts in this show: 1st and 2nd runners-up for Best in Show were chosen by the judges and we offered a pre-sale option as part of our annual sale. The absolute best thing is that we had twenty people enter the show this year, which may be a record high!

Congratulations to all the winners!

Judges for the show were Carolyn Lingenfelter and Marjorie Jansen of Norfolk, Nebraska.

A big thank you to our Popularity Vote tabulators, Eunice Cernohlavek and Sally Schrader, for their expertise in handling this portion of the show!

Congratulations to the Lincoln Iris Society and everyone who entered! You can see the complete list of winners LIS_ShowResults-2013 (PDF).

Vote for Your Favorite Tall Bearded Irises

Posted on July 15, 2013 by wrmesser

Every year the American Iris Society members vote for the 100 Most Popular Tall Bearded Irises. This years voting is now underway with 600 Tall Bearded irises on the ballot for you to chose your favorite 25 (or fewer). These irises were selected from the following:

The 100 top varieties in last year’s Symposium
The tall bearded irises eligible for 2013 Dykes Medal
The tall bearded irises eligible for 2013 Wister Medal
The tall bearded irises eligible for 2013 Awards of Merit
The tall bearded irises that won 2012 Awards of Merit
The tall bearded irises that won 2012 Honorable Mentions

Ballots and instructions are available on this page. Your selections need to be to our RVP by September 1st, either by email or regular mail.

Central Iowa Iris Society First Meeting – November 2, 2013

Posted on July 11, 2013 by wrmesser

The Central Iowa Iris Society will meet November 2, 2013 at the Ankeny Dahls, 1802 Ankeny Boulevard, in the Community Room. Join us at 10 a.m. for our first/organizing/course-setting meeting. All are welcome. Everyone attending will receive a certificate for a free iris next summer (several selections available). Questions – email wrmesser@gmail.com

Historic Irises from Presby Memorial Iris Gardens

Posted on July 8, 2013 by wrmesser

The Presby Memorial Iris Gardens were established in 1927 to honor Frank H. Presby, a founder of the American Iris Society. They are home to the largest public collection of irises in the United States. This year they are renovating their heirloom beds and are offering historic irises from these beds for sale. You can see (and order) the initial twelve historic irises they are offering at their shop on Etsy. Their iris varieties for sale will be updated as they continue to renovate their beds through July and August.

CWIS 2013 Iris Show Results

Posted on June 28, 2013 by wrmesser

Congratulations to the Can-West Iris Society for their great Iris Show which was held June 9, 2013. The total number of stems exhibited were 153 with SDBs predominate. There were 91 SDB stems entered in that section. In addition, there were 123 different varieties exhibited. The results were:

CWIS Section Certificates:
A – MDB – Flea Circus – Brenda Newton
B – SDB – Celebrate – BJ Jackson
C – IB – Blueberry Filly – El Hutchison
D to K – not awarded

CWIS Awards:
People’s Choice Award (voted on by the public) – IB Dragonmaster – El Hutchison
Best Historic Iris in Show – not awarded

Best Canadian Hybridized Stem in Show (sponsored by Chuck Chapman) – SDB Blueberry Tart – BJ Jackson

AIS Awards:
Silver Medal (most first place ribbons) – Brenda Newton
Bronze Medal (second most first place ribbons) – El Hutchison
Best Specimen in Show – IB Blueberry Filly – El Hutchison

Note: The irises names link to their entries in the Iris Encyclopedia. The pictures there are not from this show. We will have some pictures from this show later.

AIS Region 21

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